COIT23003 Games Development 1. Overview of Game Design

References Adams, E. and Rollings, A., Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. Bateman, C. and Boon, R., st Century Game Design. Charles River Media. O’Luanaigh, P., Game Design Complete, Paraglyph Press.

What is a game? “A game is a type of play activity conducted in the context of a pretended reality in which the participant(s) try to achieve at least one arbitrary, non-trivial goal by acting in accordance with rules” (Adams and Rollings, 2007)

What is a game? Key elements are: Play (participatory entertainment) Pretended reality Goal Rules

Exercise How do the following match our definition? Cricket … Big Brother Monopoly Grand Theft Auto …

What makes an interesting game? “Gameplay consists of: – The challenges that a player must face to arrive at the object of the game and – The actions that the player is permitted to take to address those challenges” (Adams and Rollings, 2007)

Video games “A video game is a game mediated by a computer” (Adams and Rollings, 2007) Rules: written rules generally not required Reality: Normally virtual, can be augmented/ mixed Gameplay: Needs to planned (level design, entity behaviour, …). Critical to entertainment value

Video Game Modes User Interface Game play Game world (Core Mechanics) CommandsActions Perceptions Responses Situations Commands Game Admin Situations Save/ Restore

Game Design “Game design is the process of: – Imagining a game – Defining the way it works – Describing the elements that make up the game (conceptual, functional, artistic, and others) – Transmitting that information to the team that will build the game” (Adams and Rollings, 2007)

Characteristics of Game Design – Is a craft, requiring both aesthetic (art) and functional (engineering ) elements – Is a complex activity, often involving teams of up to 20 people – requires multiple roles: Lead designer Game designer Level designer UI designer Writer Art director Audio director

Approaches to Game Design Zen game design (Bateman and Boon, 2006): 1.There is no single method to design “the more methods you explore, the more options you have” 2.Game design reflects needs “Game design must be egoless, balancing the desires and needs of all participants”

Player-Centric Design “ … is a philosophy of design in which the designer envisions a representative player of a game the designer wants to create, then accepts two key obligations to that player: – The duty to entertain – The duty to empathize” (Adams and Rollings, 2007)

Player-Centric Design In order to entertain, you must empathize, ie imagine how a representative player will respond to all aspects of the unfolding game. Avoid – Making yourself the representative player (I am male, I like xxxx games, ….) – Making the player my opponent (insert example here)

Phases of the Design Process 0. The ideation phase 1.The concept phase Output: a concept document “a description of game detailed enough to begin discussing it as a potential commercial product” (Adams and Rollings, 2007) 2. The elaboration phase Output: a prototype 3. The tuning phase Output: a refined prototype

Exercise Go through the game design template in (O’Luanaigh, 2006)

Game Design vs. Software Design Same general principles apply, but game design – Is a superset of software design – Requires a greater diversity of roles – Has a greater creative component – Is well suited to an evolutionary/prototyping approach – Has greater time pressures